St. Matthias Knights of Columbus officer John Meade hands a baby bottle filled with spare change to Abigayle House co-founder Gloria Gross, as a memento from the baby bottle campaign. Source photo by Deanna Rose

The St. Matthias Knights of Columbus Council, based out of the church on 19 Mile Road west of Schoenherr Road, organized a campaign that sent 500 baby bottles into the congregation. The bottles were handed out with the request that parishioners fill the bottles with spare change that would be donated to Abigayle House, a home next door to the church designed to provide shelter and support for new and expectant mothers.

John Meade, K of C officer and organizer of the campaign, said church pastor Fr. Francisco Restrepo spoke of the campaign from the pulpit and distributed the bottles after Mass on Aug. 24.

“Some bottles started coming back immediately after Mass,” Meade said. Some members of the church’s 1,300-family congregation began stuffing the bottles with coins and dollar bills right when they received them, Meade said.

Most of the filled bottles were turned in at Mass the following week and week after, and the rest were collected Sept. 14. More than 400 bottles have been returned so far, bursting with a total of $4,882 in spare change.

Meade and several K of C officers met with Gloria Gross, a co-founder of Abigayle House, on Sept. 29 to present her with a check from the funds raised in the baby bottle campaign.

“It’s just amazing,” Gross said. “We’ve never seen such an outpouring. This has been one of our biggest fundraisers ever from one place. We really appreciate it.”

Abigayle House was founded as a nonprofit organization in 1997 and the current house opened its doors in 2000. The house provides shelter for single, pregnant women who have no other options, in addition to counseling the women about life skills and prenatal care.

Expectant mothers ages 18 and older can go to the house at any time during their pregnancy and stay with their new baby for up to three months after birth. Currently, up to six women can be housed there at a time - but Gross expects to increase that in the near future.

“We’re hoping and praying to expand,” Gross said. “We want to have the women be able to stay for up to two years after giving birth, so they can get educational or vocational training.”

The annual budget of Abigayle House is $108,000, which is entirely dependent upon private donations from individuals, groups and businesses. Funds are mostly used for supplies to maintain house services since a majority of the workers volunteer their time.

“Without the volunteers, we could never do this,” Gross said.

The house provides 24-hour support for the women, including Bible classes and cooking lessons, as well as providing information about nutrition. During their stay, the expectant moms are encouraged to work at their own jobs and volunteers work with the women on finding future living arrangements.

All the women are required to maintain regular doctor appointments and tend to their correct prenatal care routines.

Gross said Abigayle House does not provide medical care, but that Michigan insurance laws mean that no pregnant woman is without health care.

“Michigan has done a good job of taking care of pregnant women,” Gross said.

Besides the living areas, Abigayle House also offers a resource center that anyone can use. The resource center provides mothers with baby clothes, afghans, formula, diapers, food and more. While the mothers using the center don’t have to be living at the house, they do have to call and make an appointment before picking up any items.

For information or to donate to Abigayle House, call 323-1411, visit www.abigayleministries.org or write 12313 19 Mile Road, Sterling Heights, MI 48313.